Little knowing that swimming would bring them together as lifelong friends, Chelsea Edwards, Amanda Hartmann and Kristin Rygg started swimming with the Kalispell Aquatic Team (KATS) in grade school. They started for different reasons, from wanting to be like the “older kids” to simply trying something new. “It was like the ‘Montessori thing’,” said Rygg. “All the older Montessori students would go. I thought I was entering the real world.” “My dad had heard about swim team and one day he said, ‘let’s try swim team,’ and I said, ‘okay!’” said Hartmann. “Coach Paul Stelter said I was a natural.” After attending the Second Wind Fitness camp, Edward’s interest was sparked to join the team. Stelter was a counselor at the camp and encouraged Edwards to join. “He saw my potential,” said Edwards. Those early days of swimming were physically tough for all three girls “I puked,” said Edwards of one of her first meets. “I seriously threw up in the gutter at the Missoula meet during warm-ups.” Yet even through the hard practices and meets, a sense of pride for their events began to form in each of the girls. “I got 7th in the 50 backstroke,” said Edwards of that same meet. “I was so proud.” Besides pride, a sense of com-petition also grew between the three girls. “ When we were little, we all swam a lot of the same events, so we were competitive,” said Edwards. “Now, we swim different events, so it’s better.” The competition of the early years did not separate the girls’ friendship. In many ways, they’ve found that it has strengthened their bonds and roles as leaders on the FHS swim team. “I think the competitiveness was good. It draws us together,” said Rygg. “Because after the eighth or ninth grade, we didn’t have anyone to lead us. It made us grow up and be the leaders of the team.” “If Kristin beats me, it’s okay,” said Hartmann. “But it makes me want to work harder. It doesn’t strain our friendship.” The competitive spirit existed not only in the pool, but also in the showers. Like all young girls growing up, they had plenty of petty fights. “Kristin and Jenny Williams (’98) were so mean to me,” said Edwards. “They wouldn’t let me use their shampoo.” “My first couple of years were awful,” said Hartmann. “The older girls would steal my swimsuits, caps and goggles.” As the girls grew up and started to discover a strong friendship, they grew to rely on each other, in more ways than one. “When we were in 7th grade, at least one of us each day would forget our bra or underwear,” said Edwards. “So we all started bringing extra so that we wouldn’t have to go to school without underwear.” Their reliability proved true again and again, especially when Hartmann was admitted to the hospital her sophomore year for Crohn’s disease. “When I was in the hospital, these guys were there all the time,” said Hartmann. “It was really nice. That was one of the most memorable moments.” “I remember being at the spaghetti dinner and my mom called to say Amanda was in the hospital,” said Rygg. “Everyone at the spaghetti dinner went to the hospital.” The girls’ friendship has proved true throughout hard-times and petty fights, but the moments of glory and fun together are the most memorable. For Rygg there are two experiences that define their friendship through involvement of swimming: “When we won state our freshmen year and Hawaii (for zones),” said Rygg. “In Hawaii, we all roomed together.” “It was our first real bonding time together without parents,” said Edwards. “It was the first time the three of us were just us.” “It was like a dream vacation,” said Rygg. Although their bodies may grow too old to continue swimming, the tie that first created their friendship, their souls will never lose the magic. Said Edwards: “Out of all the people I know, I’m going to end up being friends forever (with Kristin and Amanda) because we’ve been through everything together.” |
